Food Prices and Diet Changes

[SnakePlissken]

Who got the connect for poverty meal recipes

Cheapest full meals that serve the most food for me is Red Beans and Rice. Made this a lot in college. This meal goes really well with homemade cornbread.

Makes 6 hefty servings, 8 or 9 for a normal person
1lb Red Beans
1lb Smoked Sausage
1lb Ham (cubed or diced)
Cooking Oil (I use olive oil)
1-2 Bell Peppers
1 Med-Lg Onion
4-6 Cloves of Garlic
1 tsp Thyme
1 Tbsp Parsley
1 tsp Salt
1 Tbsp of seasoning (Tony's Chacheres, Louisiana brand, Slap ya Mama, etc. I use Tony's)
1.5 Cups Dry Rice
(Optional) 1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
(Optional) 1 Tbsp Bacon Fat

1) Quick soak the beans if you don't soak them overnight. Quick soaking is putting your 1lb of red beans in a pot, cover with a few inches of water. Throw in 1.5 Tbsp of Salt and bring to a high boil, boil it for 2 minutes with no lid and then remove the pot from heat and let it sit for 1 hour with the pot lid on. After an hour, drain the pot into a strainer.

2) After quick soaking, add 3 cups of water and your beans to a stockpot, put in 1 tsp of salt and bring to a simmer. In a separate cast pan, put some cooking oil and heat up on the side.

3) Chop up all the vegetables (mince your garlic) and put them in the stock pot while the pot is coming to a boil, cut up the sausage, combine all the meats in the cast pan and brown them (I have a 12" pan, so I do all the ham in one rotation and all the sausage in another rotation).

4) Once you've browned the meat, combine everything in the stock pot. You can pour the oil from the cast pan into the pot too or add about 1 Tbsp of bacon fat to the pan if you keep bacon fat. Adding the olive oil is nice, but I don't know if I'd want regular vegetable oil in there.

5) Add all the spices to the pot. Keep the pot stirred at least every 15 minutes. On the side, make a pot of rice with 1.5 cups dry rice and 3 cups of water. It should take about 25 minutes total to make your rice.

6) Let it simmer for at least 1 hour after combining meat, but it's safe to eat after you've made your rice if you're on a time crunch. Simmering longer makes the texture creamier.

All in all, this recipe used to be cheaper, but it's still not bad.
Beans are $2
Meats are maybe $8-10
Vegetables and spices are maybe $4-5
Rice is almost nothing
Call it under $20

[alek]

Yum... I love red beans & rice--I've got some leftovers in the fridge right now that I'll have for lunch tomorrow.

I've made the following a number of times, and it's a big hit--even with the 7 year old.

Slow Cooker Creamy Chicken Taco Soup

I don't cook it in a slow cooker, nor follow their general guidelines to just dump everything in. I cook it like I cook chili with beef, beans, and beer.

I've also taken to using ground chicken instead of chicken breasts, and it's both cheaper and easier that way.

• I brown the meat and onions on high until all the liquid has evaporated and it's starts to sizzle.
  I add the spices--a whole packet of taco seasoning along with the other listed ones--and cook it for a couple minutes. I generally don't add the salt since there's so much in the cream of XXX soup.
  I add the green chiles, rotel can, and the cream of XXX soup, reducing the heat to medium. Mix well.
  Add the bell pepper and broth. Cook for a bit on medium; I do around 20 to 30 minutes to let all the flavors mate.
  Add the cheese in small chunks; stir until combined.

You can eat it here; we usually do it over rice. But I like to add some drained and rinsed black beans and kernel corn at the end before serving for the extra fiber and farts.

[omaniphil]

This is a tasty meal that is pretty cheap and healthy.

Chakhokhbili (Georgian chicken stew)

Ingredients
2 1/2 lb. chicken thighs with skin & bone (at my local grocery store, this runs about $2.5/lb for total of $6.25)
Salt and pepper to taste
6 tbsp olive oil divided
1 large onion or 2 medium onions ($1.5)
2 red bell pepper ($2.5)
3.5 lb fresh tomatoes, chopped ($7)
1-2 jalapeños sliced (add a little at a time, all jalapenos have different heat) ($1)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped ($1)
5-6 garlic cloves pressed ($1)

Instructions
Season the chicken thighs with salt and pepper.
In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat 4 tbsp olive oil over high heat until its smoking hot. Add the seasoned chicken and brown on both sides. Remove the chicken and set aside.
In the same skillet add an additional 2 tbsp olive oil and bring the heat to medium high. Add the sliced onion and cook for about 2 minutes. Then add in the sliced bell pepper. Cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Add in the chopped tomatoes. (if you do not have in season tomatoes use pre chopped tomatoes, preferably Pomi or San Marzano brand). Cover the pot with a lid and cook over medium heat for 10 minutes.
Add the chicken back into the pot and season with salt. Start with 1 tsp. You may add more later according to your liking. Place the lid back over the pot and cook the chicken for about 30 more minutes.
Add the sliced jalapeños, chopped cilantro, and pressed garlic. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.

Serve hot with rice (basically free).

All together the meal cost works out to about $20 and serves 6 for $3.33/meal

[EggMcMuffin]

What's like the most retard proof (i.e me-proof) meal that will keep in a backpack in 10000° degree weather? I find meal prep really difficult because I live with a hoarder and a children of said hoarder who don't give a fuck about anything and it's annoying trying to clean shit out of the way so I can make food or throwing all the hoarded moldy shit out the fridge etc. or having my older brother who makes 120k a year to my 15k a year eat all my food just to fuck with me so I gotta go like poverty mode mayne

[Renascent]

What's like the most retard proof (i.e me-proof) meal that will keep in a backpack in 10000° degree weather? I find meal prep really difficult because I live with a hoarder and a children of said hoarder who don't give a fuck about anything and it's annoying trying to clean shit out of the way so I can make food or throwing all the hoarded moldy shit out the fridge etc. or having my older brother who makes 120k a year to my 15k a year eat all my food just to fuck with me so I gotta go like poverty mode mayne

Is the backpack meant for carrying food around all day, or for storing at home in an inconspicuous place?

[mouse]

What's like the most retard proof (i.e me-proof) meal that will keep in a backpack in 10000° degree weather?

Uh...

Dry cereal
MREs
Powdered milk

Got anywhere you can put a small half-fridge with a padlock?

[augeleven]

@EggMcMuffin
Here is my (not necessarily idiot-proof and maybe kinda complicated) solution to your issue.

1) go to a thrift and procure a dehydrator. There are two there. Because everybody thinks they are gonna use theirs for dried fruit and beef jerky, but don’t.
2) make a big veggie stew. Pound of lentils, bag of frozen veggies you like, maybe some TVP if you’re fancy/not afraid of soy, herbs and spices. Fancy it up from here, but this is barebones.
3) dehydrate it in the dehydrator
4) bag servings in an oversized freezer bag
5) rehydrate with water from a kuerig machine (no coffee pod…) or hot tap water, or if you really hate yourself, tepid tap water. If you don’t hate yourself, add some hot sauce/mustard packet from that Chinese takeout you had.

This is my go-to lunch back-up. It’s also my backpacking dinner, but I add packet of tuna and probably a packet of ramen noodles when on the trail.

[Renascent]

...tuna and probably a packet of ramen noodles...

Basically what I was going to suggest.

...or having my older brother who makes 120k a year to my 15k a year eat all my food just to fuck with me...

Kick him in the dick.

[FredM]

@EggMcMuffin

@augeleven 's advice is definitely better for every day meals but if you're talking just a one day thing.

At my last job I had to drive with my boss to NYC (from Boston) during the pandemic (no eating in) and move heavy equipment for 6+ hours (installing stuff I wrote the software for). I just brought walnuts, almonds, dried berries and pumpkin seeds in a bag and a gallon of water with 4 scoops worth of whey/casein in a bag with a shaker to make two drinks throughout the day. The protein source was as gross as you'd expect but I actually enjoyed the "trail mix" so much it regularly makes my "lunch" rotation now when I have to go to an office. If you throw some cheap granola in there you also have carbs. Bananas are also great. Sometimes my lunch is literally just the trail mix, banana, and a protein bar which I enjoy about 85% as much as "real" food. As long as you're making the trail mix it's pretty cheap. Protein bars can be expensive but you can actually bake those yourself too (see cliff bars) and just supplement with some protein powders. Again I wouldn't do this every day but it's the simplest/fastest/most idiot proof for some days in a rotation.

[augeleven]

What's like the most me-proof meal that will keep in a backpack in 10000° degree weather?

Oh and I forgot this little gem…

[Culican]

For about 10 years my lunch when working was a shaker with 23g powdered milk, 47g vanilla (or chocolate) whey protein, 60g of almonds, and a Cliff bar. Add water to the shaker at lunch time, drink the shake, and eat the almonds and Cliff bar.

[Renascent]

For about 10 years my lunch when working was a shaker with 23g powdered milk, 47g vanilla (or chocolate) whey protein, 60g of almonds, and a Cliff bar. Add water to the shaker at lunch time, drink the shake, and eat the almonds and Cliff bar.

This is brilliant.

I never thought about using powdered milk at work. Just might have to give it a shot.

[SnakePlissken]

@EggMcMuffin

@augeleven 's advice is definitely better for every day meals but if you're talking just a one day thing.

At my last job I had to drive with my boss to NYC (from Boston) during the pandemic (no eating in) and move heavy equipment for 6+ hours (installing stuff I wrote the software for). I just brought walnuts, almonds, dried berries and pumpkin seeds in a bag and a gallon of water with 4 scoops worth of whey/casein in a bag with a shaker to make two drinks throughout the day. The protein source was as gross as you'd expect but I actually enjoyed the "trail mix" so much it regularly makes my "lunch" rotation now when I have to go to an office. If you throw some cheap granola in there you also have carbs. Bananas are also great. Sometimes my lunch is literally just the trail mix, banana, and a protein bar which I enjoy about 85% as much as "real" food. As long as you're making the trail mix it's pretty cheap. Protein bars can be expensive but you can actually bake those yourself too (see cliff bars) and just supplement with some protein powders. Again I wouldn't do this every day but it's the simplest/fastest/most idiot proof for some days in a rotation.

Trail mix is great

I eat 2 lunches and my 2nd lunch is always a double decker peanut butter sandwich, a banana and/or an apple, protein bar, and a cup of trail mix (peanut butter, bread, protein bar and trail mix all bought in bulk from Sams) and an all in one multivitamin. Everything is easy to assemble the night before and nothing is refrigerated.

[Brackish]

@EggMcMuffin
Here is my (not necessarily idiot-proof and maybe kinda complicated) solution to your issue.

1) go to a thrift and procure a dehydrator. There are two there. Because everybody thinks they are gonna use theirs for dried fruit and beef jerky, but don’t.
2) make a big veggie stew. Pound of lentils, bag of frozen veggies you like, maybe some TVP if you’re fancy/not afraid of soy, herbs and spices. Fancy it up from here, but this is barebones.
3) dehydrate it in the dehydrator
4) bag servings in an oversized freezer bag
5) rehydrate with water from a kuerig machine (no coffee pod…) or hot tap water, or if you really hate yourself, tepid tap water. If you don’t hate yourself, add some hot sauce/mustard packet from that Chinese takeout you had.

This is my go-to lunch back-up. It’s also my backpacking dinner, but I add packet of tuna and probably a packet of ramen noodles when on the trail.

Not trying to be sarcastic, since I grew up eating homemade beef jerky, dried fruits/vegetables, homemade fruit roll ups, etc. all made with a dehydrator. How do you dehydrate a stew like that? Are there special racks for liquids? Would it be similar to the fruit roll ups and you're just doing a thing layer of it in each tray?

[augeleven]

@EggMcMuffin
Here is my (not necessarily idiot-proof and maybe kinda complicated) solution to your issue.

1) go to a thrift and procure a dehydrator. There are two there. Because everybody thinks they are gonna use theirs for dried fruit and beef jerky, but don’t.
2) make a big veggie stew. Pound of lentils, bag of frozen veggies you like, maybe some TVP if you’re fancy/not afraid of soy, herbs and spices. Fancy it up from here, but this is barebones.
3) dehydrate it in the dehydrator
4) bag servings in an oversized freezer bag
5) rehydrate with water from a kuerig machine (no coffee pod…) or hot tap water, or if you really hate yourself, tepid tap water. If you don’t hate yourself, add some hot sauce/mustard packet from that Chinese takeout you had.

This is my go-to lunch back-up. It’s also my backpacking dinner, but I add packet of tuna and probably a packet of ramen noodles when on the trail.

Not trying to be sarcastic, since I grew up eating homemade beef jerky, dried fruits/vegetables, homemade fruit roll ups, etc. all made with a dehydrator. How do you dehydrate a stew like that? Are there special racks for liquids? Would it be similar to the fruit roll ups and you're just doing a thing layer of it in each tray?

I eliminate as much broth as possible and have parchment paper cutouts that go over the trays. I also have one reusable plastic layer, but since I do 4/5 trays at a time, then it’s parchment paper. This is probably my s lot of work, although it’s super duper convenient.

[James]

Looked on a whim yesterday and meat prices at Gordon's food service went back down after spiking a while back. Whole eye of round is back to $3.79/lbs, brisket is $3.29/lbs, ground beef 80/20 is 2.49/lbs, 40lbs box of BLSL chicken breast is $43.

Eggs are still insane though.

If you have a GFS near by and haven't checked in a while give them look.

[SnakePlissken]

Looked on a whim yesterday and meat prices at Gordon's food service went back down after spiking a while back. Whole eye of round is back to $3.79/lbs, brisket is $3.29/lbs, ground beef 80/20 is 2.49/lbs, 40lbs box of BLSL chicken breast is $43.

Eggs are still insane though.

If you have a GFS near by and haven't checked in a while give them look.

The beef where I'm at is still really high. 80/20 ground beef is still 4.50 to 5 a pound where I'm at. When I was at Sam's I saw prime T-bone was 21 a pound.

Also my local grocery store has been hiking up egg prices every week and the price tag labels are now just them writing it out on a note and taping it inside the fridge door. 7.39 for an 18 count.

[BostonRugger]

These egg sellers are charging Hennesey rates!

[James]

From what I understand there's an egg short fall because the whole bird flu thing that started the chicken shortage last year. Which seems to have normalized because you can actually find chicken in walmart now but prices haven't come back down in regular retail yet.

Chicken dominos.

Edit: Oh my god I called bird flu chicken pox.

[dw]

I blame the machinations of Big Chicken.